The stress and strain of complying with the frustrating and destructive CPSIA hit a new low today when we were informed that a major customer had imposed their own new “safety” standard mandating a 40 ppm standard for lead in SUBSTRATE. This impossible-to-meet standard exceeds all legal standards considerably and is even more unreasonable than Illinois’ misguided lead labeling law applicable only to lead paint. No health or safety reasons were provided. This move was presumably an effort to keep things “simple” for this retailer. Not so simple for us. Will anyone care?
This is a result of the junk science feeding frenzy induced by the CPSIA. The CPSIA itself is divorced from science reasoning, taking an arbitrary and absurd stance against anything and everything with any lead in it. The health risks are utterly conjectural in substrate in the affected products and could never meet the "substantial hazard" standard, but scientific studies taken out of context provide handy justification of a fear of everything, paranoid approach to safety regulation. The loathsome penalties imposed by a perpetually angry CPSC have stoked a race to the bottom. Thus, a 40 ppm lead standard for substrate.
Common sense. Anyone remember what that is?
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3 comments:
Rick, I am sorry to hear that you were dealt such blow. I am terrified that we've moved into a new "lawless" phase, where unbased public fear dictates our rules. All the issues going on with cadmium- perfectly LEGAL product being pulled from shelves, based solely on media highlights. If this is where our product standards are now coming from, we are all in terrible trouble.
Maybe the customer is taking pre-emptive steps to assure compliance against the day when Congress realizes that despite CPSIA, the occasional kid is still getting lead poisoning from adults' products, and they pass yet another, stricter children's product safety law.
Business owners, be prepared to remove all color, all bells and whistles and all joy from your products - and be prepared to use only wood and only pure approved metals. It is the only chance you have of successfully meeting a million different content standards that private industry, compelled by media frenzy that is then supported by our public servants will soon be hoisting on you.
Wouldn't a black and white retail experience be the cat's meow? Any color you want, as long as it is black....
I'm sorry that you have to deal with needlessly frightened, spinelss executives Rick, you and every other manufacturing businessperson out there deserve better from our distribution and retail business customers.
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